West Ham United will have to buy Odilon Kossounou permanently as summer saga mooted
West Ham United will have to buy Bayer Leverkusen centre-back Odilon Kossounou permanently in the summer after enquiring about a loan deal in January, according to Christian Falk.
The Hammers made an effort to lure the 22-year-old to the London Stadium in the winter window, to no avail, and David Moyes’ side could now face competition from Leicester City in their pursuits for the player at the end of the season.
After falling out of favour at the Bundesliga club this campaign, The Sun [25 February] reported that Kossounou wants to leave in the summer and has his sights set on a move to England.
As reported in Christian Falk’s Fact Files on Caughtoffside (Saturday 4 March), the German journalist shared that the most “concrete link” for the Ivory Coast international is with West Ham.
He wrote: “West Ham knocked for Odilon Kossounou in the winter but it was only for a loan deal, so Leverkusen said no. Now, in the summer, it could get more contract.
“Nottingham Forest were also asking for the player in the January window because they couldn’t get Jonathan Tah. Leicester are looking for many Bundesliga players at the moment but the links there are more tenuous.
“The most concrete link was West Ham and will be West Ham, so perhaps they can find a solution for the summer. But no loan deal – they’ll have to buy him.”
Makes sense
If there was one area that West Ham United needed to bolster in the summer transfer window, it would be at centre-back.
After sanctioning the exit of Craig Dawson in the winter window, Moyes is currently a little under-staffed in defence – especially considering he has played three centre-backs for large portions of the season.
With Kurt Zouma proving himself to be an injury-prone player since his permanent transfer from Chelsea and Angelo Ogbonna not getting any younger, a move for the young defender makes complete sense.
Kossounou looks like he is keen on a fresh start after struggling to get consistent game time at Bayer Leverkusen this season and a move to the Premier League looks like the next big step in his career.
Although they attempted to take the centre-back on loan in the winter, a permanent move makes far more sense. Kossounou has plenty of football ahead of him in his career, and snapping him up on a long-term contract would be a strong move for both parties involved.